Village Tronic ViBook: Multi-Monitor For Your Netbook

By Marcel Binder
published

More Monitors, More Workspace

Most of today's graphics cards offer two display outputs, letting you connect a pair of displays. We challenge you: try working across two screens and then go back to one cramped LCD. It isn't fun. All of that desktop real estate gets to be addicting after a while, and anything less just feels cramped.

Multi-Monitor On The Road?

In this regard, notebook and netbook (especially) owners are disadvantaged. Many notebooks include the ability to attach a second display via VGA, DVI, or HDMI connectivity. But netbooks don't sport that sort of functionality. Nevertheless, as more and more people buy netbooks and try forcing them into productivity roles, attempting to replace larger notebooks, the ability to add another display would be particularly useful, even if only for sending/receiving email, surfing the Internet, or word processing.

USB Graphics Extenders

Owners of netbooks can solve this problem by using an external USB graphics extender, which connects to the monitor via USB port. This kind of connection is ideal for the folks that only have one or no graphics output at all--for instance, low-profile enclosuress. Also this solution enables more than one external monitor to be attached to notebooks, which can also come in useful. In this article, we are taking a look at one such USB graphics extender from Village Tronic, called the ViBook.

Marcel Binder
Marcel Binder
19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Limited specifications, but it could still be handy. USB 3.0 and 1920x1080, write an OS X driver and bump the price to $199, I'll take one.

    Adam
    Reply
  • I'm looking for a similar product but instead of DVI/VGA output I'd like SD TV-out.
    Reply
  • $129 is way way to expensive, add that to your budget and scrap getting a netbook, go for a notebook with display out option included if you really need a second monitor, and you will benefit in the speed increase of the notebook hardware over Atoms performance!
    Reply
  • what about using this as a diagnostic tool, in the event of having no working video on a PC? Is it capable of doing this?
    Reply
  • aspireonelover
    Honestly, I don't get the point in using multiple monitors on netbooks. Like seriously, it's just a netbook. Simple stuff :)
    I would've bought that adapter, but only if the price was set at around 20-30 bucks. BTW, I don't wanna carry too much wires around, I've already gotten my mouse, charging adapter, and a pair of headphones.
    IMHO, it's much better to use it on a laptop/notebook.
    Reply
  • IronRyan21
    DragonSMPwhat about using this as a diagnostic tool, in the event of having no working video on a PC? Is it capable of doing this?
    I don't think so. Unless you already installed the drivers before your normal video went dead.
    Reply
  • I'm baffled as to why the article states that netbooks don't have the ability to attach an external display. My MSI Wind, and most of the others, have VGA out, and I use a 22" external monitor at the same time as my internal display all the time.

    Note to author: try using a netbook first before making false claims about it's abilities.
    Reply
  • nine3o
    I remember this company, they used to make Video cards for the Commodore Amiga.

    Their products were expensive then, seems not much has changed over the past 20 years.
    Reply
  • mcnuggetofdeath
    Ive run a second monitor on an eee PC 900a, doesnt work particularly well as the IGP sucks and the CPU is a joke. But it was very functional. Ended up removing my accelerated graphics driver in Ubuntu 9.04, think it had something to do with my having overwritten default display settings.( Note not editing the .xorg, just using ubuntu's "display" settings) Anyway, only real disadvantage was that Compiz no longer worked despite my on and off again attempts to get it working. So no wobbly windows, but lots of space.
    Reply
  • Someone else pointed it out, but most netbooks, at least these days, have a VGA out, and most monitors still have a VGA in, so, we're kind of lacking a problem to solve here. Also, the non-solution is half the price of the netbook it's not solving the problem for.

    How about instead of "Multi-Monitor For Your Netbook", the title be changed to "Multi-Monitor For Your Very Old Laptop/Macbook Air."
    Reply